KAUMAKANI — This is not your ordinary wilderness ATV tour. From sweeping views of the entire Westside, from Kekaha to Wai‘ale‘ale, to up-close meetings with the Robinson family’s Devon/Shorthorn cattle, the 13.5-mile West Kauai ATV Mountain Tour is a different
KAUMAKANI — This is not your ordinary wilderness ATV tour.
From sweeping views of the entire Westside, from Kekaha to Wai‘ale‘ale, to up-close meetings with the Robinson family’s Devon/Shorthorn cattle, the 13.5-mile West Kauai ATV Mountain Tour is a different treat over land that has not been open to the public for generations.
The Gay & Robinson tour, encompassing the Robinson family’s 18,000-acre cattle ranch mauka of their sugar cane fields, provides a glimpse of the Westside from vantage points even few kama‘aina have even seen.
The normally reserved Robinson family, second-largest landholder on Kaua‘i behind the state of Hawai‘i, just opened the new tour, their third, as they seek to diversify their income away from solely depending on sugar cane.
“They are diversifying without having to make a big impact on the land” or the employees that have supported them for generations, said Chris Fayé, tour supervisor for Gay & Robinson Tours.
The 3 1/2 hour ATV tour, starting almost 1,000 feet above the tour offices in Kaumakani and climbing to 1,500 feet in elevation, encompasses an area filled with vegetation different than most people might expect when they think of the leeward side.
With mixed forests of panini, eucalyptus, the native wiliwili, keawe, strawberry guava, guava, and Java plum, to name a few, the landscape resembles Koke‘e more than the desert-like conditions of lower elevations on the Westside.
Cruising past ancient Native Hawaiian terraces and former settlements, tour participants take in vast views of mountains and oceans, with a bit of ATV (all-terrain vehicle) adventure thrown in.
While the tour is deemed “intermediate, with challenging trail conditions,” a great deal of the tour is on old roads, next to the Olokele Ditch, which gives folks ample time to check out their surroundings.
The cattle, still getting used to the ATVs, are frequently in the pathway, causing slowdowns.
While some of the climbs and descents are challenging, this is a tour, not an ATV excursion, with the focus on land and views rather than a rugged rip on an ATV.
There is also an extensive liability form to fill out, and those under 18, without a driver’s license, or with neck and back problems, are excluded.
Mayra Rodriguez, an experienced ATV tour guide who has worked for six years with other ATV tour companies on the island, has a bubbly personality, and provides enough information, but does not bog the tour down with incessant banter or unnecessary stops.
For most of the tour, patrons are driving their automatic Kawasaki Prairies, which are easy to drive and control, but don’t have the independent suspension of the more advanced vehicles that provide more stability when ripping around turns.
The tour fee ($125 per person) includes lunch, water and snacks. The food is your basic fare, and there was only one choice of sandwich. The picnic spot, however, had the most expansive view of the Westside of the entire trip.
Looking up Waikai Valley, waterfalls and mountain tops, including Kahili Peak, abound, and Rodriguez said Wai‘ale‘ale is usually visible, but not the cloudy, rainy day of this tour last week.
On the makai side, one sees towns from Kalaheo to Kekaha, the vast blue ocean, and Lehua and Ni‘ihau beyond.
Tours meet at 8 a.m. at the plantation tour office along Kaumakani Lane, near mile-marker 19 makai of Kaumuali‘i Highway. After the liability forms are filled out, patrons are shuffled into a van.
Charles “Red” Carveiro, a G&R employee for 41 years, drives the tour-takers through the cane fields, giving a small tour of the sugar fields and offering the experience of his life on the Westside. His answers to questions are candid, and show his experience of living on the island all his life.
Morning tours are available Monday through Friday. Lunch, ATVs, gloves, helmets, safety goggles and rain gear are provided. Reservations are required.
Participants must wear long pants and shoes, and long-sleeved shirts are suggested. Rental overalls are available.
This latest offering compliments other tours offered by G&R, including the two-hour field and factory tour of the operating sugar plantation, and 3.5-hour Olokele Canyon overlook, four-wheel-drive van tour.
The tour variety can accommodate a mixed group of people traveling together, with tours to fit varied interests and physical abilities.
The G&R visitor center and museum is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For more information, please call 335-2824.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226).
